As I reflect on my learnings from INF505 Library Services for Children and Young Adults the one thought that continues to plague me is the level of responsibility that children and young people’s library services have to their communities and particularly the children within them. A key part of that responsibility, in my view, is to promote access, representation and inclusion through the provision different types of resources, programs and support.
When selecting library materials it is vitally important avoid materials that stereotype cultures, or people from diverse groups (i.e. Indigenous Australians, LGBTQIA+) and rather select materials that emphasize people as unique individuals (Atkins, 2013, para. 28). Young readers should be able to find others and themselves in the stories so that they feel validated and their experiences are not so strange as to never be spoken, understood or experienced by others (Tschida et al., 2014, p. 29).
These types of library services should not only seek to promote reading, literacy development lifelong learning (Paganelli, 2016. p. 10). and building new communities of library users with a love of books and reading (Djonov et al., 2018, p. 42), but to meet communities where they are and involving them with their libraries. Whilst working on my first assessment about a Storytime program for migrant children I emphasized that wherever possible input into library services should be sought from the communities they seek to serve.
Something I had not previously considered was the positive and negative impacts library policy can have on access, representation and inclusion issues. I found multiple references that showed having a Collection Development policy that supported the acquisition and retention of diverse materials supported libraries acquiring and keeping diverse resources. Some public libraries had specific policies that state that resources representing different viewpoints on controversial issues will be acquired or made available, including those that may have unpopular or unorthodox positions (Oltmann, 2016, p. 27), these policies do give library both a remit to include diverse materials in their collections and some protections from outside agencies interference.
The responsibility of access, representation and inclusion can be disrupted by acts of censorship such as those described Steele’s (2021) exploration of the events of the legal case of Sund v. City of Wichita Falls, Texas. Where a book is located in the library directly impacts its level of access and a change to that location (such as moving a book from the children’s area to the adult’s) is an act of censorship. This act of censorship is defined by the American Library Association as a change in the access status of materials (including exclusion, restriction, removal or age level changes), based on the materials content and made by a governing authority or its representatives (2016).
When reflecting on my own work with digital images, I wonder how the labelling of images of people impacts their accessibility. As an example, should an image of two women sharing dinner be labelled ‘friends’ or ‘couple’? Also when considering the ‘location’ of this image should it appear in an album titled ‘Romance’ or ‘Girl’s Weekend’. I do not have a definitive answer to these questions, but it is something I will consider in future as I seek to apply some of my learning from this subject to my professional future.
References
Atkins, L. (2013). What’s the story? Issues of diversity and children’s publishing in the U.K. E-rea. 11(1). https://doi.org/10.4000/erea.3537
American Library Association. (2016). Challenge Support. http://www.ala.org.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/tools/challengesupport.
Djonov, E., Torr, J., & Stenglin, M. (2018b). Early language and literacy: Review of research with implications for early literacy programs at NSW public libraries. Department of Educational Studies, Macquarie University. https://www.sl.nsw.gov.au/sites/default/files/early_literacy_literature_review_feb2018.pdf
Oltmann, S. M. (2016). Public Librarians’ Views on Collection Development and Censorship. Collection Management, 41:1, 23-44. https//doi.org/10.1080/01462679.2015.1117998
Paganelli, A. (2016). Storytime IN A DIGITAL WORLD: Making a case for thinking outside the book. Knowledge Quest, 44(3), 8-17.
Steele, J. E. (2021) Cases of Censorship in Public Libraries: Wichita Falls, TX. Public Library Quarterly, 40(2), 108-124. https//doi.org/10.1080/01616846.2019.1692324
Tschida, C. M., Ryan, C. L., Ticknor, A. S., (2014). Building on windows and mirrors: encouraging the disruption of “single stories” through children’s literature. Journal of Children’s Literature, 40(1) 28-39.
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